Infant&#39;s vest and method of constructing the same



Feb. 24, 1942. J 5. E A ETAL 2,273,943

INFANT'S VEST AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME Filed April 29, 1940' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 24, 1942. 2,273,943

INFANT'S VEST AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME J. S. EHRMAN ETAL Filed April 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN E?! R5 I,

Gm, wmmflfl ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 24, 1942 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE INFANTVS VEST AND METHOD or, coNs'rRUo'rING THE SAME Joseph S. Ehrman, William F.-Williams, and Norman L. Breslauer, -Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Blue Star Knitting Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application April 29, 1940, Serial No. 332,296

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in infants vests, and method of constructing. the same.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of shoulder supported, buttonless, infants vest, which, for the purposes of donning or removal, can have its neck opening enlarged, and which, while on the wearer, has a constricted neck opening and overlapping shoulder flaps constructed to insure a snug and proper fit.

A further object of the invention is to provide an infant's vest of knitted fabric whichjis selfadjusting, without being binding or constricting on the wearer, and which does not require the use of any fastening or securing means, the knitted fabric, in the region of the neck and shoulders being arranged so that thenatural stretch of the fabric is in a direction to permit easy donning and removal of the garment, but restricts displacement of the shoulder areas, whereby a proper fit of the garment, without displacement or dishevelment, results,

A further object of the. invention is to provide a shoulder supported infants. vest in which certain overlappingshoulder flaps are integral with the upper ends of the sleeves insuring a perfect fit without stretch or strain adjacent the neck and shoulders of the wearer, and producing a raglan sleeve effect.

A further object of the inventionis to proresults in a minimum of waste of fabric material.

A further object of the invention is to provide an infant's vest which is of Very simple con.- struction, is strong and durable, is neat and attraetive in appearance, and is Well adapted for the purposes set forth. 1

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of the improved infants vest, and method of constructing the same, and the parts, combination and steps thereof, asset forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof;

vIn the accompanying drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the views: v V V Fig. 1 is a front view of the body blank of the garment as cut from a piece of tubularknitted fabric;

Fig. 2 is a plan viewof a sleeve blank;

Fig. 3 is aplan view of an arm gusset blank;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the arm gusset blank attached to the sleeve blank and the sleeve .blank secured to the armhole portion of a rear side portion of the body blank, before the arm blank is arranged and sewed in its tubular formation;

Fig. 5 isa front view of the assembled garment except that one of the overlapping front shoulder flaps has not been secured in its final position;

' upper portion of the garment as worn showin vide a, shoulder supported infant's vest formed of knitted fabric wherein the ribs or wales of the fabric run lengthwise of the sleeves and outer shoulder flaps to the neck line, eliminating undesired longitudinal stretch, in these portions of the garment and aiding the fit.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a shoulder supported infants vest formed of knitted fabric wherein the ribs or wales in the outer shoulder flaps extend transversely to the ribs or wales in the inner shoulder flaps, providing for limited stretch in either direction at the neck and shoulders of the garment, but preventing undue stretch and distortion. I

A further object of the invention is to provide an infantsvest wherein under arm portions of the sleeves are connected to body portions ofthe garment by gussets which originally were separate pieces of fabric, which arrangement gives suflicient fullness and freedom and doesnot pull or distort adjacent portions of the garment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of constructing infants vests which is practical, expeditious and economical, and. which the shoulder and neck arrangement;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on line l--! of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a topview of the shoulder and neck portionsof the garment on a larger scale, showing the same as viewed from above substantially in the position as worn; and

Fig. 9 is a front view of a slightly form of garment.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings it will appear that the improved infants vest comprises a body portion l2 having front and rear sections. Said body portion is formed from tubular knitted fabric arranged with the wales or ribs running lengthwise of the garment to give transverse elasticity or stretch, The upper front portion of the body is shaped or remodified cessed centrally as at l3 to provide the front portion of a neck opening, while the upper central portion of the rear of the body is similarly shaped or recessed, as at l4. Preferably the front of the neck opening may be somewhat lower than at the rear, as shown.

The present invention contemplates the for- Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the mation of the vest in a manner so that buttons, ties or other fastening means are not required. To this end, the neck opening may be elongated transversely of the body portion to facilitate donning or removing the vest from an infant. The construction of the garment adjacent the neck opening is, however, of such a nature that normally, in a position of wear, said neck opening assumes a more or less constricted condition and the garment firmly conforms to and hugs the shoulder portions of the wearer. Accordingly, both of the over-shoulder portions of the vest or shoulder straps and flaps aiding in'the formation of the neck opening, are formed of pairs of overlapping extensions. The underlapping extensions or straps l5 are shaped elements at spaced upper portions of the front of the body of the vest. The overlapping flaps l6 are integral with the inner ends of the arms I! of the vest and project inwardly beyond the normal shoulder or armhole seams.

,A's'willclearly appear from the drawings the shoulder straps l5 extending .from the upper portions of the front of the garment body are sumciently long so that the same may be extended upwardly over the shoulders and then rearwardly downwardly toward the back. In the position the finished garment assumes on a wearer said straps iii are in the form of inverted Us. The shoulder flaps [6 which are integral with the inner ends of the sleeves H are shaped and proportioned to extend from upper rear portions of the body of the garment downwardly over the shoulders and then forwardly and downwardly toward the front. It will be observed that the wales or ribs of the fabric composing the inner straps I5 extend longitudinally of the garment, coextensive with the wales or ribs of the body fabric. The. wales or ribs of the overlapping flaps I6 are coextensive with the wales or ribs of the sleeves H and extend longitudinally relative to thesleeves or transversely of the direction of extent of the wales of the straps l5. By this advantageous arrangement there is no distortion of the fabric of the outer shoulder flaps l6 and said flap portions may give or stretch in a direction transverse to the wales therein. Similarly, the inner shoulder strap portions I5 may stretch transversely to the wales therein, with the result that the stretch of the inner straps IE5 at the shoulders is at right angles to the stretch of the fabric of the outer flaps IS. The shoulder portions of the garment may, therefore, have a limited stretch in either direction, but the inner straps more or less counteract the outer flaps and-prevent undue distortion of the garment in these regions. The inner edges of the flap portions I6 are preferably rounded and tapered toward the outer edges of the garment, and the extremities of the straps l5 are tapered and rounded.

A blank for a sleeve IT is shown in detail in Fig. 2 and it will be noted that its inner end is rounded so that a portion of the same will coincide with a curved arm recess l8. The curved arm recesses l3 areformed in the upper rear portions of the garment body l2, said recesses extending inwardly beyond the gradually curved upper edges of the front of the body l2. In Fig. 4 there is illustrated the manner in which a curved end portion of a sleeve blank I l is associated with the adjacent arm recess 18. The improved garment is fashioned so as to eliminate any binding or constriction under the arms and to give sufficient freedom and fullness. For this purpose arm gussets W are provided. An arm gusset is originally formed from a separate piece of fabric and in assembled condition has side edges thereof secured to separated side edge portions of the inner end of a sleeve ll, while the enlarged curved end of a gusset is secured to an upper front side edge portion of the body and also is extended around and is secured to that portion of the garment adjacent the arm recess l8 which is notfilled by the attached end of the sleeve IT.

The special features of construction of the improved infants vest may perhaps be best followed by a description of the method followed in constructing thegarment. As has previously been suggested, the body [2 is formed from knitted tubular fabric and a pattern for the body is applied to the tubular fabric and the fabric is cut so as to produce the several straps and recesses previously mentioned. At this point it may be stated that in practice patterns for several body portions are applied to an extent of tubular fabric in a manner so as to produce the greatest economy in cutting the body portions, and certain intervening portions of the fabric are utilized for the cutting of the arm gussets IS. The sleeve blanks ll are likewise cut from pieces of knitted fabric and after the cutting operations the result is substantially as depicted in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings exceptthat a pair of sleeve blanks H are produced as are a pair of gusset blanks.

At this stage it may be desirable to seam the cuff portions of the sleeves l1. Thereafter the gusset blanks l9 are applied to the straight edge portions 20 of the sleeve blanks in the manner shown in Fig. 3 and are sewed together so that each gusset becomes an angular projection on a marginal portion of the sleeve blank. Each composite sleeve and gusset blank is next applied to the proper sleeve recess [8 and the meeting edges of the respective fabrics are sewed together. Each sleeve blank and attached gusset is in a flat condition and the line of attachment is from point A in Fig. 4 to point 13, along the rear side of the garment. It will be noted that substantially the upper half of the sleeve blank is free and the same is true of the lower pointed portion of the gusset [9.

At this point it may be expeditious to apply a finishing tubing edge around the neck line of the garment. As will appear from Fig. 5 said edge, indicated by the numeral 2|, follows the outline of the neck portions of the garment and is likewise applied along the unsecured inner edge portions of the sleeves IT. For the purposes of appearance this tubing edge then has picoting applied thereto.

The next step is to sew the sleeve blanks in closed condition throughout their entire extents. For this purpose the sleeve blanks are folded over into tubular formation and the closing seams extend along the lines 22, as shown in Fig. 5. This operation also serves to join the free outer edges of the gussets I!) to the folded over adjacent edges of the upper ends of the sleeves. At this stage the condition of the garment is substantially as illustrated in the right hand side of Fig. 5 and it will be noted that the shoulder straps l5 are at this stage unsecured. Consequently the next operation is to arrange said shoulder straps l5 in arched condition inwardly of the shoulder flaps It at the inner extremities of the sleeves IT. The inner free ends of the shoulder straps I5 when folded over in arched condition are located adjacent certain marks or gauged points at the the inner shoulder straps.

upper-rear portions of thebody and'lines of sew-f ing are then accomplished which extend around the equivalent of the armholes to join the upper front and rear portions of the body and to furthermore join said portions with the shoulder portionsof the sleeves H, such connections with the sleeves being substantially outwardly from the inner curved edges of the flaps l6 so as to leave said flap portions free. For a particular sleeve and shoulder strap l5 thisline of connection extends from the junction of the inner end of a sleeve seam with the inner end of the shoulder flap connecting seam as at 23 (see Figs. 5 and 6) forwardly over the shoulder to the point 24, which is the junction of the sleeve closing seam and the seam connecting the gusset with the body portion of the garment. This connecting seam is designated by the numeral 25 in the drawings and is in the natureof a fiat look. It should be observed that the seams 25 will then extend inwardly of the free edges of the shoulder flaps l6 leaving said flap portions free in a manner to overlap the over-shoulder portions of the secured straps I 5.

At any convenient time during the construction ofthe garment the lower edge of the body I 2 of the vest may be suitably finished, as at 26. Also,

certain of the originally flat locked seams, specifically those at the cuffs of the sleeves, are bar tacked.

A slightly modified form of garment is illustrated in Fig. 9. In this particular form of vest the front of the body portion I 2 has applied thereto a reinforcing area 21 which is merely for the purpose of giving additional warmth to that portion of the garment.

From the foregoing description it will appear that the shoulder portions of the garment are secured together only along outer marginal portions and the same remain in free overlapping relationship at the shoulders. In the normal position of the neck closure, as illustrated in Figs. 6, 8, and 9, the vest is closed about the base of the wearers neck and there is no necessity for utilizing buttons, ties, or any other form of fastening means to retain the garment in a snug condition for wear. The overlapping shoulder portions of the garment, due to their construction and furthermore due to the respective directions of extent of the wales therein have'an inherent tendency to remain in relatively snug constricted positions to maintain the neck opening at a minimum size.

and any tendency toward slipping or distortion is eliminated. The foregoing is of course true while the garment is being worn by an infant.

However, the special structural features readily ment. By virtue of the free arrangement of the overlapping shoulder elements the neck opening when pulled laterally may elongate considerably by virtue of the overlapping shoulder flaps being removed from and folding outwardly away from The extent of the opening is furthermore enhanced by virtue of the fact that the stretch of the inner strap portions I5 is laterally of the garment body.

From the foregoing description it will appear that the improved infants vest, and method of constructing the same, is simple, effective, and well adapted for the purposes described.

' Whatis-claimed-as the invention is: Y

1.;In-a vest, a" bodyportion of knitted fabric formed with sleeve recesses, knitted fabric sleeves having integral inner end flaps, all of the wales in saidflaps extending in the same direction, said sleeves being secured to portions of the body adjacent said sleeve recesses and remote from the extremities of said sleeve flaps, shoulder straps extending upwardly from the front of said body portion and being overlapped by said sleeve flaps, said sleeve flaps extending forwardly of the horizontal medial line of the shoulders of the vest, and the shoulder straps extending rearwardly of the horizontal medial line of the shoulders, the

respective shoulder straps, sleeve flaps and inner ends of the sleeves being secured together in the region of said sleeve recesses and outwardly from the inner margins of the straps and flaps, said straps, flaps and adjacent body portions cooperating to form a transversely elongatable neck opening for the garment.

2. In a vest, a body of knitted fabric formed at one end with sleeve recesses and a neck opening, knitted fabric sleeves having integral inner end flaps, said sleeves being secured to portions of the body adjacent said sleeve recesses and remote from the extremities of said sleeve flaps, the

. wales in the sleeve flaps being coextensive with These portions of the garment also naturally tend to hug the wearer's shoulders and continuations of the wales in the sleeves, shoulder straps extending upwardly from the front of said body portion and being overlapped by said sleeve flaps, said sleeve flaps extending forwardly of the horizontal medial line of the shoulders of the vest, and the shoulder straps extending rearwardly of the horizontal medial line of the shoulders, the respective shoulder straps, sleeve flaps and inner ends of the sleeves being secured together in the region of said sleeve recesses and outwardly from the inner margins of the straps and flaps, said straps, flaps and adjacent body portions cooperating to form a transversely elongatable neck opening for the garment. v

3. In a vest, a body of knitted fabric formed at one end with sleeve recesses and a neck opening, knitted fabric sleeves having integral inner end flaps, said sleeves being secured to portions of the body adjacentsaid sleeve recesses and remote from the extremities of said sleeve flaps, the wales in the sleeve flaps being coextensive with and continuations of the wales in the sleeves, shoulder. straps extending upwardly from the front of said body and being overlapped by said sleeve flaps, the wales in said shoulder straps being transverse to the wales in said sleeve flaps, said sleeve flaps extending forwardly of the hurlzontal medial line of the shoulders of the vest, and the shoulder straps extending rearwardly of the horizontal medial line of the shoulders, the respective shoulder straps, sleeve flaps and inner ends of the sleeves being secured together in the region of said sleeve recesses and outwardly from inner ends 'of the composite sleeve blanks to the body at the; arm recesses, folding the-sleeves into tubular form and connectingthe meeting edges by longitudinal seams, folding the shoulder straps upwardly and inwardly in underlapping relation relative to the inner ends of the sleeves, and finally connecting the upper ends of the sleeves with folded over portions of the shoulder straps by lines of. sewing which extend around the armholes of the garment and inwardly of the inner margins of the sleeve extensions.

JOSEPH S. EHRMAN. WILLIAM F. WILLIAMS. NORMAN L. BRESLAUER. 

